Lucile Watson

Lucile Watson (May 27, 1879 – June 24, 1962) was a Canadian actress, long based in the United States. She was "famous for her roles of formidable dowagers."
Early years
Watson was born in Quebec and raised in Ottawa, the daughter of an officer in the British Army. Despite his wishes, she traveled to New York City and enrolled in a dramatic school.
Career
Watson was primarily a stage actress, appearing in 39 Broadway plays. She starred in plays such as Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines, Heartbreak House, Ghosts, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Pride and Prejudice.
Watson's first film role was in the 1916 silent film The Girl with Green Eyes, a film version of the Clyde Fitch play she had performed on Broadway in 1902. She did not appear in another movie until 1930 when she had an uncredited role in The Royal Family of Broadway. In 1939, she portrayed Norma Shearer's wise mother in the cultural comedy/drama from the Clare Booth Luce play The Women.
In perhaps her most acclaimed performance, Watson portrayed Fanny Farrelly in playwright Lillian Hellman's anti-fascist dramatic stage play Watch on the Rhine on Broadway in 1941, starring Paul Lukas. Two years later in Hollywood, she and Lukas reprised their roles in the film adaptation, for which Watson received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Lucile Watson played Aunt March in the 1949 film version of Little Women, whose stars included Elizabeth Taylor as Amy. The following year, she was cast along with her famous The Women co-star Joan Crawford in the melodrama Harriet Craig.
Death
Watson died on June 25, 1962.
Broadway roles
No More Ladies (1934) as Mrs. Fanny Townsend
Watch on the Rhine (1941) as Fanny Farrelly
Partial filmography
The Royal Family of Broadway (1930) as Actress Backstage (uncredited)
What Every Woman Knows (1934) as La Contessa la Brierre
The Bishop Misbehaves (1935) as Lady Emily
The Garden of Allah (1936) as Mother Superior Josephine
A Woman Rebels (1936) as Betty Bumble
Three Smart Girls (1936) as Martha
The Young in Heart (1938) as Mrs. Jennings
Sweethearts (1938) as Mrs. Marlowe
Made for Each Other (1939) as Mrs. Harriet Mason
The Women (1939) as Mrs. Morehead
Waterloo Bridge (1940) as Lady Margaret Cronin
Florian (1940) as Countess
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) as Mrs. Custer
Rage in Heaven (1941) as Mrs. Monrell
Footsteps in the Dark (1941) as Mrs. Archer
The Great Lie (1941) as Aunt Ada
Model Wife (1941) as J.J. Benson
Watch on the Rhine (1943) as Fanny Farrelly
Uncertain Glory (1944) as Mme. Maret
Till We Meet Again (1944) as Mother Superior
The Thin Man Goes Home (1945) as Mrs. Charles
Tomorrow Is Forever (1946) as Aunt Jessica Hamilton
My Reputation (1946) as Mrs. Mary Kimball
Never Say Goodbye (1946) as Mrs. Hamilton
Song of the South (1946) as Grandmother
The Razor's Edge (1946) as Louisa Bradley
Ivy (1947) as Mrs. Gretorex
The Emperor Waltz (1948) as Princess Bitotska
Julia Misbehaves (1948) as Mrs. Packett
That Wonderful Urge (1948) as Aunt Cornelia Farley
Little Women (1949) as Aunt March
Everybody Does It (1949) as Mrs. Blair
Let's Dance (1950) as Serena Everett
Harriet Craig (1950) as Celia Fenwick
My Forbidden Past (1951) as Aunt Eula Beaurevel
Sources
Lucile Watson biography by Film historian T. R. Bourgeois
References
Further reading
External links
Lucile Watson portraits Broadway 1910s or 20s NYP Library
1879 births
1962 deaths
Actresses from New York City
Actresses from Quebec City
Canadian film actresses
Canadian television actresses
Canadian stage actresses
Canadian expatriate actresses in the United States
20th-century American actresses